The naked mole rat inhabits Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. Only one of their breeds breeds, and the rest of the colony is barren. Author: Taken from twitter

WASHINGTON, February 7th. – Naked mole rat (scientific species name Heterocephalus glaber) is increasingly intriguing scientists as a creature that does not succumb to aging and is immune to cancer.

According to a report in National Geographic magazine, this strange rodent is resistant to chronic diseases, including diabetes, immune to pain and has an excellent reproductive system.

Researchers are carefully studying these African animals to understand how humans can live longer, healthier lives. The rat is small, its length ranges from 7 to 33 centimeters, and it lives on average 30 years.

The unique characteristics of this mammal could help improve the human condition, so experts do not stop studying its metabolism. The life expectancy of this mammal is much higher than that of other rodents. If a mouse lives for about 3 years, then naked mole rats live for more than 3 decades.

As can be seen from studies by biologist Rochelle Shelley Baffenstein, who was born in Zimbabwe and is a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the reason is that he practically does not age due to a slow metabolism.

Also known as farumfer, the shaved rat or heterocephalic rat does not obey the laws of biology, lives in burrows and is the only cold-blooded mammal. The lack of hair and the layer of insulating fat under the skin forces it to regulate its body temperature based on the heat sources it encounters.

Thus, when the rodent is too hot, it moves to a cooler part of the hole, and if its body is cold, it seeks a warm place or crowds with other individuals to raise its temperature.

One of its most unique characteristics is its ability to survive without oxygen. If a person’s brain begins to die after one minute from a lack of oxygen, then a naked mole rat can last 18 minutes.

With a minimum amount of oxygen, a rodent can live without air for up to 5 hours. An article published in the journal Science showed that this incredible resilience is due to exceptional behavior: instead of consuming glucose, this species modifies its metabolism and its brain consumes fructose as an energy source.

Studying this process in changing metabolism could help improve people’s survival, for example, in the case of a stroke, when oxygen supply to the brain is interrupted.

Despite the fact that it can suffer from diseases and die as a result of them, this rodent is highly resistant to developing tumors due to the presence of the so-called GEN-P16, which prevents cell division in contact with other cells.

Source: Juventud Rebelde